Crisis in the arts: sound engineer's fight to keep music alive in lockdown with home studio

He first took to the stage as a sound engineer at a theatre in Germany and he soon found himself working in the West End with Andrew Lloyd-Webber.

After working on shows such as Starlight Express and Jesus Christ Superstar, Nick Sagar has hoped to keep the passion for music and the arts alive throughout the pandemic.

The coronavirus lockdown threw a difficult blow to the arts and turned all plans for a visit to the theatre or music venue upside down.

"The live arts were one of the first industries to be impacted when people were advised against going to theatres. I was on the way back from a rehearsal in London and we knew that things would be changing," said Nick.

"I went from having a very full diary to nothing. There were phone calls and emails postponing projects or cancelling them indefinitely. From someone who travels the world in my work, it has been devastating for myself and the industry.

"Looking to the future, there's no real indications as to when these live events can practically happen with the social distancing measures. The arts itself already scrapes by and lives right on the edge of profitability, so to reduce audiences to a third of the normal capacity for theatres isn't viable unfortunately."

After 25 years of living in the capital city, he decided to move back up north and began freelance work as a sound designer and opened his Penwortham recording studio 3507.

Once building his studio as a personal project to work on compositions and collaborations, Nick now wants to pass on his years of experience by encouraging emerging local artists from the borough to channel their talents at his studio.

Adhering to the Covid-19 guidelines, the composer and sound designer said: "During the lockdown, people have found pockets of creativity and a desire to perform to the world. For me, the next step as lockdown eases, is taking those bedroom and living room stages and getting their talent out there more.

"I hope my studio can do that and allow people to reach out into a more professional way of doing things. We hope to help people on that creative road. We aren't going to create world stars overnight but it's a step towards helping people emerge from lockdown with their new found creativity.

"Without community centres, small theatres and pubs, many small artists don't have an outlet to perform."

In a bid to get the arts back on its feet, the Government recently announced a cash injection of £1.57 billion to "protect Britain’s world-class cultural, arts and heritage institutions."

This aims to protect the future of Britain’s museums, galleries, theatres, independent cinemas, heritage sites and music venues with emergency grants and loans.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "From iconic theatre and musicals, mesmerising exhibitions at our world-class galleries to gigs performed in local basement venues, the UK’s cultural industry is the beating heart of this country.

"This money will help safeguard the sector for future generations, ensuring arts groups and venues across the UK can stay afloat and support their staff whilst their doors remain closed and curtains remain down.

Although the announcement is welcome, sound engineer Nick worries that small venues won't see the benefit of the new funding.

He said: "The concern seems to be more about the buildings than the people who work inside them. People who work in the theatre, we think of as being part of our heritage, don't start at the West End or on our TV screens, they start off at the small theatres and community centres.

"It's those places that won't see enough funding to keep going. Already we are seeing huge redundancies and without the smaller venues they will just become ghost towns.

"On top of that, the people who create work in the arts are freelancers like myself - directors and sound designers. All those people wont benefit from this funding either.

"I am going to try and help people as much as I possibly can because I have 35 years of experience and a real passion in helping others with their learning and experience. I feel it's almost my duty to pass that on to others. Since lockdown, there's been a shift in focusing my studio on helping other people and new artists."

Nick's site can be visited at 3507.co.uk.